Learn how to make this heart warming Jamaican red peas soup that is completely meatless. A delicious soup that consists of kidney beans (peas) simmered down in coconut milk with a medley of root vegetables, herbs and spices.

When it comes to Caribbean food, most people think of the main entrees and fail to acknowledge our wonderful soups.
Soup is big business in the Caribbean especially on Saturdays where it's customary.
Red peas soup is full of flavour and most importantly my version is meat free/ital making it great for vegans, however meat eaters will fall in love with it too.

What is red peas soup?
In short, red peas soup is a soup made from red kidney beans (known as red peas/peas).
The peas (usually dried) are rinsed and left to soak or several hours or preferably overnight.
Then they are boiled, simmered with herbs/spices and root vegetables.
The majority of red peas soup recipes are made with meat - cowfoot, pigtails and/or stewing beef being the preferred choice along with ground provisions, seasoning, coconut milk or coconut cream
When my family made this soup as non pork eaters, we would omit the pork, in fact we didn't really use much meat at all.
Sometimes we would add beef and other times it was shredded chicken.
You could say that red peas soup is the sister to Red peas soup isn't very difficult to make and doesn't need any meat to make it flavoursome. The first thing you will want to do is soak the beans. It's better to use dried beans, for reasons I've explained above. The beans will need to be rinsed several times to rid the debris/dirt before being soaked in enough water to cover them for at least several hours or overnight. The next day, you will need to drain off the water and rinse the beans again, just to make sure they are squeaky clean, you will notice that they are more plump too (this is normal). When boiling the beans, this will take up to an hour, so give yourself plenty of time and by patience. While the peas are cooking, I would advise making the dumplings so they are ready to add the pot. You can roll them into spinners or shape into discs. I like to make both variations for most of my soup blends using my homemade gluten free flour. It's important that the beans are tender before moving onto the next step. A good way to determine its readiness is to scoop up a few beans with a spoon, cool them off and squash them with your fingers. If they mash quite easily, then they are cooked thoroughly and ready for the next step. I like to use a combination of full fat coconut milk and coconut cream and mashing some of the beans. In my humble opinion, all three of the above contribute to a nice thick red peas soup consistency. I don't like to go to crazy with the carbohydrates - some sweet potatoes, yam carrots and cho cho are more than enough carbs to yield a filling soup recipe. The vegetables and dumpling need to be added once the beans are cooked, because they don't take as long to cook but at the same time, the longer they cook, the more likey they will breakdown and add to the thickness of the soup. The dry ingredients are add along with the soup to replace the flavour that would be extracted for using meat. Do not skip any of these ingredients as they will enhance the flavour of the soup, quit nicely. **Please comment below and star rate if you have tried my recipes. Support my website by leaving a donation through Buying Me a Coffee. A site to show your appreciation of my hardwork over the years. Let's be friends and engage on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram I also like to pin on Pinterest, where you can find more amazing recipes.**Ingredients you need
Recipe preparation
The steps
Notes and tips
More dumpling recipes to try
More Caribbean soup recipes to try
Jamaican Red Peas Soup Without Meat
Ingredients
To make the dumplings
Instructions
Notes
Nutrition
Zin says
This amazing Soup, was a big part of my Childhood.💕 It looks just like the pics your showing.😍 I always wondered what the Slightly Sweet Taste is? Is it from the Coconut Milk? Thank You, for Recipe.🙏🏽🌹
Charla says
Hi Zin, yes I find that the vegan version of red peas soup lends a subtle hint of sweetness to it because of the coconut milk.
Beth says
Step 1 says to add onion and scallion but so does step 10, so what is it ? Both ?
Charla says
Step 10 refers to the onion and garlic granules, so in otherwords the granulated/powdered form is added at a step 10. Step one refers to the vegetable form of onion and scallion which is chopped up. I hope that helps, so yes both steps are correct, just two different items added at different times.
Adrian says
Excellent recipe, thank you very much for posting it!
Charla says
You are very welcome Adrian.